Conference Papers | 2001 Conference Papers

AWWOA President's Message

Welcome to Bendigo and the 64th Annual Victorian Water Industry Engineers and Operator's Conference. There are many people who assist in organising an event such as this and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their wonderful efforts. Firstly, thank you to Coliban Water and SerCo for the support provided as conference hosts for this year. This support has been invaluable in ensuring the smooth running of this event and is important for the ongoing success of this conference.

Once again the response to the call for papers was outstanding with 30 abstracts submitted. The selection committee has chosen a balanced selection of papers covering a diverse range of topics across the water industry. To the successful presenters and their employers, and also to those who submitted abstracts but unfortunately missed out, thank you for your continued support of the conference. Congratulations to the AWWOA Members who have been selected to present papers. It is great to see operators stepping forward and sharing their knowledge about their jobs.

The 'Poster Paper' section for operators is being staged yet again thanks to the generous support and sponsorship of the newly formed Water Industry Training Centre (WITC). The posters submitted in past years have set a high standard and I am sure that this year's entries will be no different. Hopefully those operators who participate in this section will take the next step and present a platform paper at some time in the future.

'Actizyme' is once again sponsoring the Prizes for Best Papers by an AWWOA member and have offered this generous support to operators continuously since 1992. Actizyme provides an award for the best operators papers at the NSW and Queensland conferences as well, and their commitment to supporting operators is outstanding. This year, as a result of a reciprocal deal between the Victorian and NSW operators groups, the best operator paper will be presented at each other's conference the following year.

The Water Sector Services branch of NRE has supported the printing of this conference manuscript for many years and we thank you also for your continued contribution to this event. This year we have a number of other major sponsors with some being involved for the first time and others who support us year in and year out. At the time of writing this report, companies who had confirmed their intention to sponsor the conference include Australian Pollution Engineering, Grundfos Pumps, G-Tech, George Fischer and KSB Ajax. The support of these organisations allows us to present such a special event on an annual basis.

A special thanks must go to Ron and Cheryl Bergmeier from Australian Pollution Engineering for their outstanding contribution to the conference each year through the organisation of the trade exhibition. This is the thirteenth consecutive year that they have organised the exhibition and each year they seem to bring a new degree of professionalism to the conference. Your time, effort, enthusiasm and contribution to the conference is greatly appreciated by the AWWOA and the delegates. The trade exhibitors also need a special mention for the continued support of this event. Many companies have exhibited for a number of years and for some this may be the first time. I want to let you know that your contribution and support is appreciated by all those who attend the conference. I also take this opportunity to issue a challenge to all delegates to support the trade exhibitors by inspecting their sites and having a chat to the representatives.

As usual, thank you to all the people from the industry who have come along as delegates. We thank you for your support and request that you pass on our gratitude to your employer for allowing your participation.

The Association continues to be very busy in areas other than the conference, and the past year has been no exception.

In November 2000, the Association conducted a "Future Directions Workshop" in Bendigo. It was great to see some old faces, along with some new ones, come along to this important event with the intention of contributing to the future development of our Association. Some changes have already been implemented as a result of the workshop. These include the alteration of the constitution, the rescheduling of our AGM to coincide with the weekend seminar in March, and the change of our reporting from a financial to calender year. The constitutional review required the formation of a very enthusiastic sub-committee who sorted out all the details and tabled the notices of motion that were dealt with at a Special General Meeting of the Association. The Committee is actively pursuing other ideas raised at the workshop and Members will hear more about them in the near future.

In March of this year the Association conducted another successful weekend seminar for members at Mt Buffalo Chalet. These weekends have become very popular and enable members to network with colleagues from other Authorities and the industry. It also allows the transfer of hands-on knowledge of products and services by representatives of various trade organisations to the assembled throng. Thank you to Richard Greenhough for organising the seminars and arranging the exhibitors each year. Planning for the next seminar to be held in March 2002 at Swan Hill is well advanced.

In October 2000, the second Water Industry Charity Golf Day was conducted at the Broadford Golf Club. This golf day will continue as an annual event and all proceeds raised will be donated to charity at the following conference. Along with an increase in numbers present, including some good players, some not so good golfers and some absolute shockers (no names mentioned Cynthia), an enjoyable day was had by all. Our thanks go to the sponsors and participants, and I take this opportunity to issue an invitation and challenge to the Authorities and the Tradies to get involved in this years event. It will be staged at Trafalgar Golf Club on Sunday 21 October, 2001.

The AWWOA website is being continually updated and we are now receiving feedback from all around the world. If you get the opportunity, please have a browse through the site and we would appreciate any comments about the site and how we might be able to improve it. You can access it at www.wioa.org.au.

The AWWOA membership continues to grow with some 260 individual members now listed and our Corporate Members have increased from 32 in 2000 to 41 in 2001. It is hoped that membership numbers in both categories will continue to increase in the future. With the recent changes to our Membership categories more people are eligible to join, so if you know of a colleague or a company who may be interested in joining, please forward their details to George and he will see that they receive an application form or package.

Finally, recognition and appreciation of the work done by our small but energetic Committee is warranted. The members of the AWWOA Committee have once again given the Association much of their time for the benefit of all in the Industry. Thank you also to the employers of our Committee members for giving them time to attend meetings and functions. My personal thanks go to you all. To George our Secretary/Treasurer, thank you for the endless hours that you dedicate to your position.

To all delegates - please enjoy the conference and make the most of your time among your peers in the industry.

At the time of writing this report, the venue for the 2002 conference had not been finalised and in keeping with tradition, we will announce the venue and Host Authority during this conference. Enjoy this year and hopefully we'll see you all again next year.

Barry Waddell
AWWOA President